What Is DuckChain? DUCK Token Price, Overview & Trading Guide

DuckChain calls itself the "first consumer layer on Telegram," and the pitch is straightforward. Take Telegram's billion-plus user base, give them an EVM-compatible blockchain that runs inside the app, and let them pay gas fees with Telegram Stars instead of buying crypto on an exchange first. The chain is built on Arbitrum Orbit infrastructure and connects TON, Ethereum, and Bitcoin ecosystems through cross-chain bridges.

The project launched its DUCK token on January 16, 2025, listing simultaneously on OKX, KuCoin, Gate.io, MEXC, Bitget, and over 20 other exchanges. It hit an all-time high near $0.02 on listing day, briefly giving it a fully diluted valuation above $100 million. By February 2026, DUCK trades around $0.001 with a market cap near $7.5 million, representing a decline of roughly 93-95% from that peak.

The gap between the project's ambitions (onboarding a billion Telegram users to Web3) and its current market cap ($7.5M) tells you everything about where DuckChain stands. It has real infrastructure, real exchange listings, real on-chain activity, and a $10 million foundation. It also has a token that has not found a floor after 13 months of steady decline.

What Problem Is DuckChain Solving?

Telegram has nearly a billion active users, but blockchain adoption within the app remains a fraction of that number. The Open Network (TON) handles native transactions, but most DeFi infrastructure, developer tooling, and liquidity lives on Ethereum and EVM-compatible chains. That creates a disconnect: Telegram users are on TON, but the apps and money are on Ethereum.

DuckChain bridges this gap by running an EVM-compatible Layer 2 on top of TON, powered by Arbitrum Orbit. This means developers can deploy Ethereum-native dApps (using tools like MetaMask, Hardhat, and Foundry) that operate inside the Telegram ecosystem. Users interact with these apps through a Telegram Mini-App, and they can pay transaction fees using Telegram Stars rather than needing to acquire ETH or TON separately.

The unified gas system is the key design choice. A Telegram user who has never touched crypto can spend Stars (which they may already have from in-app purchases) to interact with DeFi protocols, NFT marketplaces, or gaming dApps on DuckChain. That eliminates the "buy crypto to use crypto" barrier that blocks most first-time users.

During its testnet phase, DuckChain processed over 50 million transactions from more than 2 million unique users. After the mainnet launched, it recorded 7.6 million active wallets and 38 million transactions in its first week. As of January 2025, the project claimed over 20 million users, including 3 million paid users.

Those numbers need context. Most of this activity came from airdrop farming (users interacting with the chain to earn DUCK tokens). Whether that activity converts to organic, sustained usage is the question DuckChain has not yet answered.

Who Built DuckChain?

DuckChain was developed by TONSCALE LABS in collaboration with Arbitrum (through its Tandem program). The project was co-founded by "Ducking," described as a Web3 innovator with a Cambridge University background who transitioned into crypto in 2019.

In December 2024, DuckChain raised $5 million in a funding round led by dao5, Tandem by Offchain Labs (the company behind Arbitrum), and Kenetic Capital. The Offchain Labs connection is significant because it means Arbitrum's own investment arm backed DuckChain,

In January 2025, DuckChain launched the Duck Foundation with $10 million committed to supporting AI and blockchain application development. The project also rebranded to "Telegram AI Chain" around the same time, signaling a strategic pivot toward integrating AI agents into its governance and user experience.

DUCK Tokenomics and Current Price

Token Distribution:

The 50% airdrop allocation is the largest of any category and explains why the circulating supply reached 59% at TGE. DuckChain prioritized distribution breadth over price support, deliberately seeding the token into millions of wallets through its Telegram Mini-App campaigns, staking activities, and the AI DAO Genesis program.

One notable deflationary action: the community voted to burn 545 million unclaimed airdrop DUCK tokens, representing 9.24% of the circulating supply at the time. This was a meaningful supply reduction, though it has not reversed the broader downtrend.

What Does DUCK Actually Do?

DUCK serves four primary functions within the DuckChain ecosystem.

Gas fees. DUCK is the native gas token for transactions on DuckChain. Every swap, transfer, smart contract interaction, and dApp usage on the chain requires DUCK for fees. The unified gas system also accepts Telegram Stars, but Stars get converted through the DuckChain infrastructure, which still creates underlying DUCK demand.

Governance. DUCK holders can vote on protocol changes, parameter adjustments, and resource allocation through AI-powered governance facilitated by the Quack AI protocol. The AI DAO Genesis Members program gives early participants additional governance weight and exclusive airdrop eligibility for ecosystem tokens.

Staking. Users can stake DUCK to secure the network and earn rewards. Staking was one of the primary on-chain activities during DuckChain's growth phase and remains a mechanism for reducing circulating supply.

Ecosystem currency. DUCK powers liquidity provision, payments, and participation across decentralized applications built on DuckChain, including DeFi protocols, NFT marketplaces, and gaming applications.

The Quack AI Connection

Quack AI (ticker: Q, formerly AIQ) is DuckChain's AI governance protocol that has grown into its own separate project. Originally built on DuckChain, Quack AI now operates across BNB Chain, Arbitrum, Optimism, and other networks. It uses AI agents to automate DAO proposal analysis, voting, and execution.

As of February 2026, Quack AI's Q token has a market cap around $28-60M (depending on the day) and is listed on Binance, KuCoin, MEXC, and other major exchanges. That makes the governance layer's token worth significantly more than DuckChain's own native token, which is an unusual dynamic. DuckChain Genesis Member SBT holders can earn Q tokens based on their holdings and activity, creating a value bridge between the two ecosystems.

The fact that Quack AI achieved a Binance listing while DUCK has not may reflect the market's preference for the AI governance narrative over the Layer 2 infrastructure play.

How Does DuckChain Compare to Other TON Ecosystem Projects?

DuckChain's positioning is as the EVM bridge for the TON ecosystem. It does not compete with TON directly but rather extends it by allowing Ethereum-native developers and applications to operate within the Telegram environment. The question is whether this bridge function creates enough sustained demand for DUCK to justify holding the token versus simply using TON directly.

What Are the Risks?

93-95% decline from ATH. DUCK launched at nearly $0.02 and trades at $0.001 thirteen months later. The continuous decline suggests that airdrop recipients and early holders have been selling steadily, and organic buy pressure has not materialized at sufficient scale.

Airdrop-driven user base. 50% of the total supply went to airdrops. While 20 million users and 3 million paid users are impressive numbers, the conversion from "free token recipient" to "active ecosystem participant" is unproven. Most airdrop-driven projects see 90%+ user drop-off after distribution ends.

Token unlock pressure. With 72% of supply already circulating, remaining unlocks from team (10%), advisors (3%), and investor (10%) allocations will continue adding sell pressure over time.

Narrative competition. DuckChain rebranded to "Telegram AI Chain" to ride the AI narrative, but the AI token space is crowded. Quack AI (Q) has already captured more market cap than DUCK itself, suggesting the market may value the AI governance application over the underlying chain infrastructure.

TON ecosystem dependency. DuckChain's value proposition depends on TON and Telegram's continued growth. If Telegram's crypto ambitions stall, or if TON develops native EVM compatibility, DuckChain's bridge function becomes less necessary.

Low volume relative to listings. Despite being listed on 20+ exchanges including OKX and Kraken, DUCK only generates $1.5-1.7M in daily volume. That is thin for a token with this much exchange infrastructure, and it suggests limited active trading interest.

How to Trade DUCK on Phemex Onchain

DUCK is available through Phemex's Onchain Trade platform.

Step 1: Log in to Phemex or create an account.

Step 2: Navigate to Phemex Onchain Trade.

Step 3: Select DUCK from the available tokens.

Step 4: Set your order amount and review slippage tolerance. While DUCK has better liquidity than many micro-caps (thanks to 20+ exchange listings), onchain trades still require attention to slippage on larger orders.

DUCK is also available on OKX, KuCoin, Gate.io, MEXC, Bitget, and Kraken for those who prefer centralized exchange trading.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is DuckChain a legitimate project?

DuckChain has verified backing. It received $5 million from dao5 and Tandem (Offchain Labs' investment arm, meaning the team behind Arbitrum directly invested). The Duck Foundation has $10 million committed. DUCK is listed on 20+ exchanges including OKX and Kraken, which have listing standards. It also burned 545 million unclaimed airdrop tokens through a community vote. This is not a rug pull. However, legitimate infrastructure does not guarantee the token holds value, as the 93%+ decline from ATH demonstrates.

Can DUCK recover to its all-time high of $0.02?

Reaching $0.02 again would require a roughly 20x move from current prices, pushing DuckChain's market cap to approximately $150 million. That is achievable in crypto if the TON ecosystem experiences significant growth and DuckChain captures meaningful dApp activity. It would require a catalyst beyond what has materialized so far, such as a major Telegram integration, a breakout dApp built on DuckChain, or a broader TON ecosystem rally.

What is the relationship between DUCK and Quack AI (Q)?

Quack AI was originally built on DuckChain and serves as its AI governance layer. However, Q has expanded to operate across multiple chains and now has a larger market cap than DUCK itself. DuckChain Genesis Member SBT holders can earn Q tokens, creating a value connection between the two ecosystems. They are related but separate tokens with separate trading profiles.

How is DuckChain different from using TON directly?

DuckChain adds EVM compatibility to the TON ecosystem. If you are a developer with Ethereum-based smart contracts, you can deploy them on DuckChain and reach Telegram users without rewriting your code for TON's native architecture. For end users, DuckChain lets you interact with Ethereum-style dApps from within Telegram and pay gas with Stars instead of acquiring ETH.

Bottom Line

DuckChain has the most complete infrastructure package of any project in its market cap range. Arbitrum Orbit technology, $5M in institutional funding from Arbitrum's own investment arm, $10M foundation, 20+ exchange listings (OKX, KuCoin, Kraken), a working mainnet with millions of historical transactions, and a spun-off AI governance protocol that achieved a Binance listing on its own.

That infrastructure has not translated into token price performance. A 93-95% decline over 13 months, $1.5M daily volume despite all those exchange listings, and a market cap below $10M suggest the market is either undervaluing DuckChain's fundamentals or pricing in the reality that Layer 2 infrastructure tokens need sustained dApp activity to generate token demand, and DuckChain has not yet attracted the breakout application that would drive organic usage.

The bull case is that Telegram's continued push into Web3 (payments, Mini-Apps, Stars economy) eventually drives real traffic through DuckChain's EVM bridge, and the current price represents accumulation territory before that demand materializes. The bear case is that airdrop-driven user numbers do not convert to organic activity, and DUCK's 50% airdrop allocation created a permanent overhang of sellers.

At $7.5M market cap for a project with this backing and infrastructure, the risk/reward skews favorably if you believe in the TON ecosystem thesis. If you do not, there is no fundamental floor to catch this token.

This article is for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Cryptocurrency investments carry significant risk. Past price performance does not predict future results. Always conduct your own research and never invest more than you can afford to lose.